AMD's flagship Piledriver-based FX-9590 CPU just got a big price cut in the UK and is currently priced at £300. While it is not clear if the price-cut that took it down from £700 is worldwide and came directly from AMD or just limited to a single retailer in the UK, it is still a quite interesting.

The UK based Aria PC retailer is currently selling AMD's flagship 5.0GHz FX-9590 for as low as £300. As noted, it is not clear if the price came as a directive from AMD, which previously stated that it will not push the FX-9590 into retail/e-tail at all, or is it just a way for Aria PC to get rid of stock. Judging by the extent of the price-cut our bet goes on AMD.

In case you missed it earlier, the AMD FX-9590 is AMD's flagship FX-series CPU based on Piledriver architecture, features eight cores, 16MB of cache, has support for DDR3-2133 memory and runs at 4.7GHz base and 5.0GHz Turbo clock. In case you missed earlier reports, the FX-9590 should be paired up with a high-end 990FX motherboards with specific BIOS update and massive VRM due to its high 220W TDP.

According to earlier reviews and benchmarks, the AMD's FX-9590 packs quite a punch and even gets close to Intel's Core i7-4770K in some scenarios.

The price-cut on the FX-9590 follows the recent price-cut of the dual-GPU HD 7990 graphics cards and we certainly hope that it is a worldwide one and that we will see it in all other retail/e-tail shops around the Europe. Currently, the rest of the Europe lists the FX-9590 at around €735 which is quite lower than the €794,25 price it had last month.

AMD launched the first desktop Richland parts a few weeks ago, but the first batch of chips came with TDPs of 65W or more. Those on the prowl for something a bit more efficient were told to wait, but now they might be about to get a couple of 45W parts.

The new A8-6500T and A10-6700T chips are not out yet, but they were found in the CPU support list of a new MSI FM2 board, reports CPU World. They are apparently quad cores with 4MB of L2 cache. The A8-6500T is clocked at 2.1GHz, while its faster sibling clocks in at 2.5GHz. However, there is still no word on Turbo Core clocks.

Both chips come with 720MHz clocked graphics. The A8-6500T features HD 8550D graphics, while the A10-6700T ends up with HD 8650D graphics. We still don’t know the price, or availability date, but they look like pretty interesting products, especially for OEMs. Let’s just hope that they don’t end up as OEM-exclusive chips.

In related news, mobile Richland ULV parts are on the way as well. AMD is expected to introduce a few new parts shortly, like the A10-5745M, a 2.1GHz quad-core part capable of hitting 2.9GHz on Turbo. It boasts HD 8610G graphics with 384 cores clocked at up to 626MHz and best of all it has a 25W TDP. A couple of slightly slower duals and quads with TDPs under 20W are on the way as well.

AMD has a tradition of rolling out crippled APUs in the form of very cheap Athlon processors. Trinity and Llano based Athlons have been around for years and now it’s Richland’s turn.

The Athlon X4 760K has been spotted by CPU World in several online shops, including Amazon and eBay UK. Some companies already have them in stock.

The chip features four CPU cores and 4MB of L2 cache. It is clocked at 3.8GHz, but it can hit 4.1GHz on Turbo. It supports DDR3-1866 memory and the rest of the feature set is basically a carbon copy of what you’d get with an A-series Richland part, sans graphics.

Amazon UK is listing it at GBP 64, which translates to USD 101. The chip should be available in a couple of weeks and it might not be the only Richland based Athlon this year.

Just days after Microsoft announced the Xbox One, based on a custom Jaguar chip, AMD has officially announced Temash, Kabini and low-power Richland parts. Since we’re been talking about Jaguar and Piledriver for ages, we won’t focus on the actual specs this time around - AMD’s performance figures are what stands out.

Temash, or 2013 AMD Elite Mobility APU as it is officially known as of today, is designed for tablets and hybrids up to 13 inches. AMD says it delivers 172 percent more CPU performance than its previous generation chips such as Hondo and up to 212 percent better graphics, courtesy of AMD’s CGN architecture. As if that wasn’t enough, it is also 45 percent more power efficient than the competition and it has five times more GPU muscle than current generation Atoms targeted at the same market.

Kabini is now known as 2013 AMD Mainstream APU and it should cover a much bigger swath of the market. Compared to previous low-end AMD APUs, it delivers 132 percent better visual performance per watt, along with 127 percent better productivity performance per watt, which translates into more battery life, up to 11 hours of battery idle. It can also wipe the floor with Intel chips, with up to 88 percent better GPU performance, 33 percent better gaming performance and 29 percent faster file compression. The last number is perhaps the most significant, as number crunching was traditionally the weakest link in AMD APUs.

Richland had its name changed to 2013 AMD Elite Performance APU and although it doesn’t deliver the same leap in performance like Jaguar-based parts, it ends up 12 percent faster than Trinity in productivity, while visual performance is 20 to 40 percent better. The big news is that it is up to 51 percent more efficient than its predecessor. It also bests the competition in gaming by 39 to 72 percent.

2013 is shaping up to be the Year of the Jaguar for AMD. With three console wins under its belt, it is finally bringing the new core to PC lovers and the numbers look promising to say the least. In addition to being quick, the Jaguar die is tiny and should be cheap to build, which means better prices for end-users and higher margins for AMD. Now the ball is in Intel's court and we're waiting for its Atom "tick".

Just as we wrote a couple of days ago, AMD has officially announced its first batch of Richland mobile APUs. Richland APUs are the replacement for AMD's Trinity APUs that were a big deal last year. Although they are pretty much based on same CPU and GPU architecture, as well as the same 32nm manufacturing process and even use the same socket, Richland does bring some serious and interesting improvements.

As noted earlier, Richland is still based on Piledriver CPU cores, while the GPU part is still based on the same GPU architecture as the Trinity GPU, despite its new Radeon HD 8000 series model number. On the other hand, the new Richland parts did get higher clock CPU and GPU frequencies, some impressive power management improvements and platform oriented enhancements and features.

To be precise, AMD has launched only four mobile Richland SKUs today, all with the same 35W TDP. The flagship quad-core A10-5750M is joined by another quad-core A8-5550M and two dual-core APUs, the A6-5350M and the A4-5150M. You can expect slightly higher PCU and GPU clocks while the rest of the specs remain unchanged, at least in the mobile segment. The A10-5750M does get 1866MHz memory support, but still features the same amount of L2 cache and same amount of "Radeon Cores" in its Radeon HD 8650G GPU.

AMD did not focus on talking about performance but rather comparing the actual power consumption of Richland APUs against Trinity counterparts. The numbers do seem impressive as when Richland and Trinity flagship parts (A10-5750M and the A10-4600M) are compared AMD is claiming that Richland is up to 47 percent more efficient than the previous generation in HD playback. While there are noticeable efficiency improvements in both idle and WiFi web browsing scenarios, those are mostly attributed to lower overall consumption of the platform.

AMD also included a slide that puts the A10-5750M against some other mobile chips in Futuremark's 3DMark Fire Strike DirectX 11 benchmark showing an impressive lead over, what AMD calls, a much higher priced Intel Core i7-2520M chip. The power enhancements also come from additional frequency/voltage operating points, intelligent boost feature with better CPU and GPU power allocation and new hybrid boost that uses on-die temperature sensors and incorporates results into an algorithm bringing higher performance for typical operating conditions.

The first AMD FX-series CPUs based on the Piledriver architecture launched back in October and now it appears that a refresh is coming, as two parts out of four rumored SKUs, have appeared for pre-order in the USA.

As you already know, back in October, AMD launched the FX-8320 and FX-8350 125W TDP parts as well as the FX-4300 and the FX-6300 95W TDP parts. Leaked slides and rumors suggested that AMD would launch a couple of more SKUs, including FX-4320, FX-4350, FX-6350 and the FX-8300 by the end of Q4 2012. The first two, FX-4350 and the FX-6350 have appeared for pre-order at shopblt.com, a US e-tail site.

The FX-4350 is a quad-core SKU with 8MB of L3 cache, a 125W TDP and works at 4.2GHz base and 4.3GHz Turbo clock. The FX-6350 is a six-core part that has same 8MB of L3 cache, same 125W TDP and works at 3.9GHz base and 4.2GHz Turbo clock.

According to these leaked pre-order prices, the FX-4350 is listed at US $142.68, or US $9 more than the FX-4300 in the same store. The FX-6350 is priced at US $154.57, which is US $10 more expensive than the FX-6300 in the same store.

There have been more than enough leaks dealing with Richland, AMD's successor to the Trinity powered Virgo platform, and we even had a chance to see some leaks regarding its succesor, codenamed Kaveri. As you may already know, Richland is planned to last through 2013 and it is clear that this is very important chip for AMD.

Based on the Piledriver architecture and built using 32nm technology, Richland will feature an integrated GPU that will be upgraded to Radeon HD 8000 series, a generation ahead of Trinity. As you know, there has been a lot of leaks regarding the Richland parts and the quad-core A10-6800K with Radeon HD 8670D graphics is expected to pack quite a punch. Best of all, Richland will still use the same FM2 socket.

According to our sources, the NDA will be lifted on 12th of March, 8am EST, and we are sure that we will see at least a couple of reviews as well as some additional info regarding the price and the availability date.

Although it was detailed back in August last year, AMD has just now officially released its new "affordable" Vishera based FX-4130 quad-core socket AM3+ CPU.

The new CPU is part of AMD's 4100-series and is based on Vishera core design with four Piledriver cores. It works at 3.8GHz base clock and can "turbo" up to 3.9GHz. It packs 4MB of L2 and 4MB of L3 cache and has a 125W TDP.

According to the slide over at Xbitlabs.com, the FX-4130 replaces the FX-4100 with the same US $101 price but should provide between 3 and 9 percent more performance.

As things get better with Globalfoundries and their 32nm process technology, AMD is expected to introduce new models based on cut-down versions of Vishera, according to the report.

A set of leaked AMD slides is shedding more light on upcoming Richland and Kabini APUs. The Richland leak, courtesy of Expreview, confirms our earlier reports and gives us a few new numbers to play around with.

The top 100W quad-core will be the A10-6800K, with HD 8670D graphics. Next in line, the A10-6700, with a 65W TDP and the same graphics core. The A8 family also gets two parts, the A8-6600K with a 100W TDP and A8-6500, with a 65W TDP rating. Both feature HD 8570D graphics.

The lower end of the market is catered to by two 65W parts, the A6-6400K and A4-6300. The A6-6400K features HD 8470D graphics, while the HD 8370D is reserved for the A4-6300.

Sadly, we still don’t have the exact GPU specs, or CPU clocks for that matter, but here’s what the leak is telling us so far. The HD 8370D features 128 Radeon cores, while the HD 8370D packs 192 cores. The beefier HD 8570 and HD 8670 appear to feature 256 and 384 cores respectively.

The leaked roadmap also points to 17W and 25W low-voltage parts, but this is hardly news, as AMD already has Trinity parts in the same TDP envelope. Kabini A-series and E-Series parts will also be available in low voltage flavor, with 9W to 15W TDPs.

AMD’s Piledriver rollout is all but complete. With Trinity in the mobile and desktop space, new 3300 and 4300 Opterons are bringing the new architecture to data centers.

The Opteron 4300 series offers six different parts, in quad-, six- and eight-core flavours. Stock clocks range between 2.2GHz and 3.5GHz, with TDP’s in the 35W to 95W range. The cheapest Opteron 4334 costs $191, while the priciest 4332HE comes in at $501. The 3300 series consists of three quad- and eight-core SKUs, priced at $125 to $229. The pricing of both series is pretty aggressive.

But what’s next for AMD? Well things should be eerily quiet on the server front in 2013. Abu Dhabi, Seoul and Delhi/Orochi C should last throughout 2013 and even a good part of 2014. That’s when we can expect some major changes, as AMD transitions to 28nm and goes about transforming its Opteron lineup.

Future Low Power CPUs and APUs (as AMD calls them) should replace Dehli/Orochi-C in 1P and dense server markets, but AMD is also planning “Client APUs for market enablement,” and this sounds a lot like ARM-based low voltage parts. Of course, in the high end AMD plans to stick with big Steamroller cores, but mid-2014 is a long way off.